Alphabirding

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chrish
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Alphabirding

Post by chrish »

Since the Bird-a-day is doing so well, I thought I would hijack the idea to create a new game. The goal is to post a photo of a bird whose proper name (no nicknames) starts with the next letter of the alphabet. When we get to Z, we start again.

So if I start with American White Pelican, the next person could post a photo of a Brown Pelican, then the next person an Double-crested Cormorant, etc. You should get "double points" for getting both letters, i.e. Brown Booby is better than Brown Pelican for B. Of course, there are no points, but you get the idea.

The only rules will be:

1. you can't follow your own post up unless 48 hours has passed with no follow-up.

2. the next letter has to be the first letter in the bird's name. It can be the descriptor or the "group" name. Therefore, I could post a photo of a Northern Harrier or a Pygmy Nuthatch for N. No nicknames ("snakebird", "buzzard" unless it is one of the European hawks, etc,)

3. It must be your photo. Wild birds photos are what we are looking for, but if 48 hours passes with no one taking a letter you can substitute a captive/zoo bird as long as you indicate that it was captive.

4. No doubling up on letters. If someone steals your letter you have been waiting for, please don't post a second "M" bird anyway. Wait until the next round.

Let's see how far we can get.

I have a Plain Xenops photo somewhere I think, unless someone has one of the other species of Xenops, a Xantus Hummingbird, Xantus Auklet, White-naped Xenopsaris, Xinjiang Ground Jay, or Xavier's Greenbul.

I'm sure we can get through 2 or more iterations of the alphabet.
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Re: Alphabird

Post by chrish »

So for the letter A, we have Southern Royal Albatross, taken off the ferry from the Stewart Island - South Island crossing in 20 foot seas :mrgreen: - the green is for the way I felt!

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Curtis Hart »

Black-footed Albatross
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Re: Alphabirding

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Crested Guan
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Matt Buckingham »

Dusky Grouse

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by chrish »

Eastern Phoebe

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by pete »

dunlin
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by chrish »

pete wrote:dunlin
Uhhh.....pete....nice Dunlin but...uhhh......

A, B, C, D, E, F...etc. :lol:
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by pete »

Sh#tbiscuts!! DUH UH UH UH

no excuse there :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by pete »

field sparrow :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Soopaman »

This will be my one and only chance to contribute to the thread:

Green Heron

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Matt Buckingham »

Blue-throated Hummingbird

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by chrish »

I was trying to avoid the obvious Indigo Bunting and struggling to find an I bird....but then.....

Inca Dove popped into my head.

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Curtis Hart »

Jabiru
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by chrish »

Wow, I thought we were going to be stuck on J for a while. I had some Js, but couldn't post them since I did the letter I.

I'll leave K for someone else since I've already done a few.

Awesome Jabiru shot. That's a curse bird for me, I just can't seem to stumble across one!
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by herpseeker1978 »

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Ruby-crowned Kinglet

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Matt Buckingham »

Southern Lapwing

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by herpseeker1978 »

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Mountain Bluebird
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by chrish »

White-tailed Nightjar from Bonaire.

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Antonsrkn »

O is for Ocellated Turkey
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by chrish »

Antonsrkn,

That's an awesome Ocellated Turkey shot. I've seen them dozens of times but never in good enough light to get that kind of shot.
The thing about Ocellated Turkeys for me is that I can never decide if they are beautiful........or hideously ugly. :?
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Curtis Hart »

Chrish, the Jabirus were relatively common in the Llanos of Venezuela.

Karoo Prinia
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by monklet »

Is that Prinia by any chance a Babbler? Very similar in form to California's Wrentit, which has been considered closely allied while distantly removed.
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by chrish »

Curtis,

That's funny. I was just thinking when we got to P "I hope someone posts a Prinia, if anyone has a photo".

I've always liked Prinias since I was birding in SE Asia in the 80s.

My fingers are crossed that we'll get a Zitting Cisticola for Z!


EDIT - Oops, forgot Q. DOH!

Obvious choice - Golden-headed Quetzal from Ecuador.

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Matt Buckingham »

Robust Woodpecker

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by chrish »

Matt,

That is a bad-ass woodpecker. I guess it is the same genus as Lineated and Pale-billed? That is an awesome group.

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Matt Buckingham »

Yeah these guys are awesome. They're Campephilus, which has to be the coolest genus of woodpeckers. I think that Pale-Billed are Campephilus as well, but Lineateds are Dryocopus (arguably the second coolest genus). Both Robust and Lineated Woodpeckers were common at my study site. You didn't have to go far to find the rare Helmeted Woodpecker either. Now that thing was crazy looking.
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Reptiluvr »

Sandwich Tern

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Andy Avram »

Tree Swallow.
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chrish wrote:My fingers are crossed that we'll get a Zitting Cisticola for Z!
I'll second that notion. I was hoping to see one in Europe this past summer, mostly because I love the name!

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Matt Buckingham »

Upland Sandpiper

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by chrish »

Here's my entry for V (How did we get to V so fast??)

Volcano Hummingbird

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Antonsrkn »

W is for Wood storks!
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by chrish »

Uh oh......I can't find my Plain Xenops photo. I will have to look tonight more closely.

No Xantus Auklet or Hummingbird photos?

Let's give it a day or so, then we can expand the rules to "adjust" for the letter X.
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Matt Buckingham »

That's funny, I have a Plain Xenops photo on an external hard drive somewhere that I can't find either! It's not very good but hey.
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Andy Avram »

I don't have any X-birds, but if "proper name" includes scientific names, then a Yellow-headed Blackbird picture would work. If someone has a picture of one...
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by chrish »

Yeah, that was my plan B, so let's go for it.

There are a bunch of X bird genera listed here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bird_genera, including some pretty easy ones (Yellow-headed Blackbird, Sabine's Gull, a large genus of common Woodcreepers, etc.). I have a photo of Xiphorhynchus erythropygius, but I'll defer to someone else.

So...who's got one of those X genera birds?
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Matt Buckingham »

I got ya...

Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Hunter-MX »

Yellow Grosbeak
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by chrish »

Here's my only shot from my only sighting of a Zenaida Dove from Ria Lagartos, Yucatan, Mexico.

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by chrish »

OK, so we made it through once easily. Let's try again, but this time lets make it a bit more challenging.

This time through, the letter has to be the FIRST LETTER IN THE FULL NAME. So for A, we can't use an Royal Albatross this time, it must be an Atlantic Puffin or something similar..

You also can't use the same species used in the last round.

Who's first?
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Stohlgren »

Trying to find pictures to contribute that I didn't just have in my recent post.

Anhinga

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by herpseeker1978 »

Burrowing Owl
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Andy Avram »

Forest Canada Geese.

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Post by chrish »

Double-toothed Kite from Ecuador.

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Post by Curtis Hart »

Eastern Screech Owl
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Ferruginous Pygmy Owl
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by Matt Buckingham »

Green-headed Tanager

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by gone herpin »

Gould's Wild Turkey's

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Re: Alphabirding

Post by gone herpin »

Damnit, you beat me to it...
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Re: Alphabirding

Post by chrish »

Hooded Warbler - a particular favorite

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